While at Southern University in the 1960s, the chemistry department chair noticed a knack for science in Isiah Warner, a promising undergraduate from Bunkie, Louisiana. After encouraging Warner to pursue chemistry as a field of study, he challenged his protege with an ambitious task — receive a Ph.D before his 30th birthday.
“What’s a Ph.D?” Warner asked.
Nearly 50 years later, Warner boasts not only a Ph.D in analytical chemistry from the University of Washington, but professional titles ranging from LSU’s Vice President for Strategic Initiatives to Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor. His 24 years of service to the University, combined with his cutting-edge research in chemotherapeutics, earned him the SEC Professor of the Year award at this year’s conference.
According to the LSU Media Center’s website, the award is given to one Southeastern Conference faculty member “whose record of teaching, research and scholarship places him or her among the elite in higher education.”
Through Warner’s contributions as a scientist and mentor, College of Science Dean Cynthia Peterson said the chemistry professor has become a “cornerstone” of the department. She said his successes in teaching make him a role model for students and peers, alike.
“Thanks to his commitment to increasing diversity in STEM fields, the LSU Department of Chemistry now leads the nation in the number of Ph.D graduates from historically underrepresented groups,” Peterson said.
In addition to the graduate class he teaches each year, Warner extensively researches ionic liquids he calls “GUMBOS,” an acronym for “group of uniform materials based on salts.” From this research, Warner discovered GUMBO compounds kill only cancer cells during chemotherapy.
Warner said preliminary lab results suggest the compounds will work in real life as well as they did in the petri dish. With a handful of patents pending in the area, he said right now is a “very exciting time” in his field.
Despite his contributions to the department’s materials initiative, Warner said his favorite part of the job involves teaching. However, he said he considers the two primary aspects of academia synonymous on many levels.
“Research should teach students how to create new knowledge,” Warner said. “What better form of teaching than to create new knowledge?”
In his role as an administrative vice president, he said he has generated more than $30 million for the University through various initiatives and programs for students.
As hundreds of students look to him as a mentor, Warner said he receives emails from former students and colleagues a few times a month, thanking him for his guidance and assistance. Though he does not have much left on his professional bucket list, he said he strives to help fellow members of the University community find a way.
“I’m a country boy from Bunkie, Louisiana, and there were people in my life who helped me find a way,” Warner said. “In my opinion, that’s what life is about — trying to help others.”
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Loch Kingsford Johnson is the Regents Professor of Public and Internal Affairs at the University of Georgia. Johnson was born in Auckland, New Zealand and received his Ph. D. in political science from the University of California, Riverside. Johnson is also the author of more than 200 articles and essays; and the author or editor of 28 books on U.S. national security. At the University of Georgia, he led the founding of the School of Public and International Affairs in 2001 and the UGA Memorial Service Garden in 2005. For more information on Johnson click on the website listed below: http://www.thesecu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Extended-Formal-Bio-for-L-Johnson.pdf
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Harry McSween is Chancellor’s Professor and Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Since 1978 the NASA has continuously funded McSween’s research on the solar system. McSween has participated in NASA spacecraft missions in 1997 as a member of the science team for the Mars Pathfinder rover and later for the Mars Global Surveyor. To learn more about McSween, click the link below: http://www.thesecu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2013-SEC-Professor-of-the-Year-Hap-McSween-Extended-Bio-1.pdf
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John E. Hall is the Author C. Guyton Professor and Chair of Physiology and Biophysics, and Director of the Mississippi Center for Obesity Research at the University of Mississippi. Hall graduated from Kent State University and received his doctorate in physiology at Michigan State University. Hall has also mentored more than 120 postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and medical student researchers. For more information about Hall click on the link below: http://www.thesecu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2014-SEC-Professor-of-the-Year-John-Hall-Extended-Bio.pdf
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Isabel Gauthier is the David K. Wilson Chair of Psychology and Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science at Vanderbilt University. Gauthier received her doctoral degree from Yale University. Gauthier teaches undergraduate Introductory Psychology and Brain Damage and Cognition. For more information about Gauthier click the link below: http://www.thesecu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015-SEC-Professor-of-the-Year-Isabel-Gauthier-Extended-Bio1.pdf
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Isiah Warner is LSU Boyd Professor, the Phillip W. West Professor if Analytical and Environmental Chemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. Warner serves as LSU’s Vice President for Strategic Initiatives. He graduated from Southern University. Warner also founded the LA-STEM Research Scholars Programs. The program has served more than 200 high-achieving scholars. To learn more information about Warner, click the link below: http://www.thesecu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2016-SEC-Professor-of-the-Year-Isiah-Warner-Extended-Bio.pdf
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